Before the pandemic, My MacBook was for work, my iPod for workouts and commutes, and my phone – well that was used for just about everything, including making plans to leave the house.

(And yes, I am aware that phones are mostly used for workouts and music now, but I’m old school.)

Lance Ulanoff wrote a piece for Lifewire that sums up how things have changed.

With millions of us working from home for the first time, we rely on technology to, if we’re lucky, keep us employed and connected. We collectively experienced the almost universal adoption of Zoom (and the backlash) and even the tech-averse learned new digital skills without which they might be cut off from friends, family, and co-workers.

Ulanoff has identified one piece of tech in particular that he feels is rising above the rest right now. After watching a number of late-night shows, cobbled together using footage from video conferencing, webcams and Bluetooth, he “thought, and not for the first time, that this is really the AirPods’ moment”.

I’ve noticed that the hosts are usually wearing a pair or one AirPod, which have become, more or less, the official Bluetooth earbuds of the pandemic. Part of this is accidental.

Dangling cords aren’t ideal when you’re trying to keep things up to standard. Hosts using AirPods tend to produce better sound quality that those relying on their laptop microphones and these days most guests are asked to use AirPods.

I often wonder, when the Pandemic and stay at home orders end, which parts of our lives will return to business as usual? Will I go back into the office every day? Will we consume mass quantities of toilet paper and napkins? Will we ever shake hands again? And I do wonder about television. The COVID-19 pandemic forced shows […] to find a new way to get on air and deliver the show to, at least for now, a somewhat captive audience.

For those who have them, AirPods can significantly enhance the quality of catch-ups with the people we love, making the distance a little easier to bear.